Chapter 871: New Domus And Visitor
“Wow, is this our new home?” The slave girl ran into the new house excitedly.
“No, it’s my new home. You are just staying here temporarily,” Zhang Heng said.
“Hmph! Stingy!”
“…”
The Domus given to Zhang Heng by Commodus was not in the area where Decius’s family lived, but it was a well-known upmarket area in Rome. And, as Commodus said, it was closer to the palace and more convenient for Zhang Heng to travel there from his residence.
Since Zhang Heng was the only person that lived in the domus, Commodus did not give him a house with large space. Even so, it was about the same size as Mark Reuss’s domus, especially the large and well-lit front hall. There was also a long and narrow rain-collecting pond. The domus was also fully furnished as well. Lastly, Commodus sent Zhang Heng two servants to help him upkeep the house.
The slave girl was immersed in the joy of moving to a new house. She ran around the courtyard and touched everything she could touch. On the other hand, Zhang Heng asked the two servants to move the luggage into the house. He then turned around, walked into the study room, and took out two bottles of wine from the cabinet before pouring himself a glass.
After solving the mine problem, he could finally relax. With Decius keeping an eye on the project, he did not need to go there every day to monitor its progress. Other than the monthly gladiatorial performance, he would occasionally return to the Southeast District to deal with the problems Soap and Marcus couldn’t solve. After that, he would spend the rest of his time digesting the assassin skills Dadatis had taught him.
Now that his assassin skills had been upgraded to Lv2, it meant he had almost reached the threshold of a first-class assassin. Coupled with Kreis’ Heart, an item known as the perfect assassin’s costume, Zhang Heng’s true strength in an assassin was close to the top assassins in the world. Once he digested everything that Dadatis taught him, he needed to accumulate experience like his assassin counterparts and polish his skills to improve as an assassin.
He had a shortcut, however.
And that was the Assassin’s Library of the Balanced Blade. It housed various assassin classics since the establishment of the Balanced Blade. If he could stay in the library for some time, he was confident that he could further improve his assassination skills. He had even reached an agreement with the priestess—after he killed Altrus, he would be granted access to the library.
Currently, this was Zhang Heng’s main goal. On the other hand, being close to Commodus also meant that he could get in touch with people from the royal guards and start investigating who had actually hired an assassin to murder him.
This problem had Zhang Heng very concerned. Enemies that were hiding behind curtains were usually the most dangerous. His rise to fame had been too quick. It was only normal that someone got jealous. And Zhang Heng also realized that he had offended a number of people. Nobody in this world hated him to the point they wanted him to disappear except for the bosses of several small gangs he had previously eliminated.
Typically, it was hard for this type of people to come into contact with the royal guards. In other words, there was no other suspect on his list for now.
From a motive standpoint, Zhang Heng could not find a reason for anyone to kill him. He also knew that, at times, the murderer didn’t necessarily have a reason to eliminate their targets. Some serial killers, for instance, had psychological issues, while others would kill by impulse. Looking for the individual that wanted to assassinate him would be a gargantuan task.
The only clue that Zhang Heng had now was the portrait. It appeared that he would need to meet the royal guards later on.
…
At the same time, Zhang Heng did not expect his first guest to be Lucilla after moving to his new domus.
From the time the two first met, Zhang Heng did not want to get too close to the woman that possessed the intention to kill her brother. According to historical records, it took two years for her to assassinate her brother. By then, Zhang Heng would’ve already left this dungeon. After coming in touch with Lucilla, he realized how crazy she could get at times, frequently executing her actions in defiance of common sense. Since he could never figure out what she would do next, it was best he kept his distance from her.
If it were someone else, Zhang Heng would have warned her not to get too close to him. However, Lucilla had an outstanding status in Rome. Even her husband was required to treat her respectfully. Not one person in the entire empire could hold her down except for Commodus. Although she crossed the line sometimes, most people turned a blind eye to her. And just like the others, Zhang Heng couldn’t refuse her request as well.
Therefore, in return for receiving the necklace, Zhang Heng gave her and Queen Christina a ticket to his gladiatorial show as promised.
Unsurprisingly, Queen Christina declined the invitation. It was something that Zhang Heng expected. Christina grew up in a prestigious family, after all, and special attention had to be paid to manners and character. She was also now married to Commodus and had become a queen. Hence, she had to make sure that she acted like a queen. She could no longer go crazy as she liked and did all those things she wished.
As for Lucilla, she was very interested in Zhang Heng’s gladiatorial performance. So, she accepted the ticket. However, she did not show up on that day. Mark Reuss was left in an awkward spot since he had prepared a welcome speech for her.
After that incident, Zhang Heng thought that Lucilla’s enthusiasm for him had faded, but he did not expect that the woman would suddenly show herself in front of him after disappearing for two months.
Lucilla did not inform him before she came over. She walked into the domus just like that. And she also encountered the same obstacles as her brother visited Zhang Heng for the first time. The excited slave girl stopped her.
Lucilla wasn’t as nice as her brother, though. She signaled the guard behind her with her eyes. With a solemn face, the tall knight walked toward the slave girl.
The slave girl suddenly became very nervous. There was just too much of a difference between her height and size compared to the knight. To her, Lucilla’s guard was like a small hill. However, this was her home, and she was half-master. So, this time, she insisted on not taking a step back.
That was how the slave girl thought, but she did not expect her subconscious to force her to retreat. After that, Zhang Heng came out of the study room and picked her up by her collar. He then put the terrified girl down behind him while nodding at Lucilla.
“Augusta.”
“Just call me Lucilla.”
Lucilla smiled at Zhang Heng and waved at her guard as if she had done nothing to the slave girl before Zhang Heng came out of the study room.
Of course, Zhang Heng wasn’t expecting Lucilla to admit her mistake. He simply asked the aggrieved slave girl to go to the second floor before asking, “To what do I owe this pleasure, Augusta?”
“Call me Lucilla. I don’t want to repeat it the third time.” Lucilla still wore her smile. “You men are such unsympathetic animals. You haven’t seen me for so long. I would’ve forgiven you if you told me you didn’t miss me, but how dare you ask me why I came looking for you?”
“…”
Zhang Heng did not know how to answer the question. So, he chose to maintain his silence.